You realize Rolando McClain was considered a coach on the field when he was coming out, right? McClain was EXACTLY what Te'o is, except better. Bigger, taller, longer. Leadership and maturity beyond his years--in spades.

But speed. Speed speed speed. That was always my big concern with McClain, he looked slow in college. Teo is much faster than McClain.

McClain didn't dispell his speed issues either by ditching the combine and running a poor 40 on his pro day.

Lack of speed is the death of any defender who wants a career in the NFL.

And almost identical to Justin Houston and Sean Witherspoon. McClain was not a Dontay Moch, Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis or Brian Urlacher, but his speed was more than adequate and his recognition on the field matched with his length was more than supposed to make up for it.

And almost identical to Justin Houston and Sean Witherspoon. McClain was not a Dontay Moch, Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis or Brian Urlacher, but his speed was more than adequate and his recognition on the field matched with his length was more than supposed to make up for it.

Are you sure about that? Bc I'm skeptical, I could have swore McClain ran a 4.85 and I'm also pretty sure Witherspoon ran a 4.55.

You and I both know that there is no such thing as an official 40 yard dash time, so it's very possible McClain ran a 4.85 and Witherspoon ran a 4.55. But ESPN certainly thinks they had similar results.

You and I both know that there is no such thing as an official 40 yard dash time, so it's very possible McClain ran a 4.85 and Witherspoon ran a 4.55. But ESPN certainly thinks they had similar results.

“I think the first thing you have to do is not have a major knee-jerk reaction. Let’s look at this kid’s body of work over four years. I think the second thing, though — and being real honest here — is that most NFL teams are going to look at that Bama team and say, ‘OK, that’s the most NFL-type team he has seen in four years, and how did he play in that game?’ I haven’t seen the tape yet, but everything I saw live tells me it wasn’t real good. So it’s going to be factored in, and teams are going to look at it and teams are going to ask him questions about it. But overall, the body of his work tells me he’s a first-round draft pick in the NFL.”

Quote:

Mayock spends the football season as NBC’s commentator on Notre Dame games, and he spends the offseason as NFL Network’s draft analyst. And Mayock said today on Mike and Mike in the Morning that he thinks there’s a risk of people overreacting to one bad game from Te’o and dropping him further than he deserves to be dropped — but Mayock also thinks it’s valid to point out that Te’o struggled when facing future NFL offensive linemen and future NFL running backs against the Crimson Tide.

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“I think the first thing you have to do is not have a major knee-jerk reaction. Let’s look at this kid’s body of work over four years. I think the second thing, though — and being real honest here — is that most NFL teams are going to look at that Bama team and say, ‘OK, that’s the most NFL-type team he has seen in four years, and how did he play in that game?’ I haven’t seen the tape yet, but everything I saw live tells me it wasn’t real good. So it’s going to be factored in, and teams are going to look at it and teams are going to ask him questions about it. But overall, the body of his work tells me he’s a first-round draft pick in the NFL.”

This is the most valid point to make about the game against Bama. It was the best chance we got to see Te'o against NFL-type competition. And this game has to hurt him.

However, he has played other teams that are very strong, including Oklahoma. I would also point out the way the defensive line was completely manhandled by Alabama. It seems pretty clear the opposition was Nfl caliber, but the guys in front of him were NOT starter material on an NFL team.

Bottom line, Te'o was over rated a the last few months, but if he drops past 20 someone is going to get a good deal. He has the talent and leadership to go 15-23ish.

Well I don't know how many times Te'o will be faced with an OL in the NFL made up of 5 1st round picks.

This is a bit of a lie.

While, the 5 lineman are really good (and will likely be 5 1st day picks, but Fluker isn't going round 1 at the very least, and probably Jones too.), they are not big enough and strong enough to even be considered NFL linemen yet.

That's what distinguishes the college game from the pro game. The first few years of an linemans career in the NFL is about strengthening. Look at how nasty David DeCastro looked at Stanford. Now compare that to how he looked in his first few weeks in the NFL. It was night and day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBNYDP

I don't know many linebackers that perform well with their line getting dominated the way that Notre Dame's line did.

This. Every good LB you can name was behind a great DL. Very few of them can take on lineman and still make plays.

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I don't see how he is any different than Maulaluga or McClain. Slow, not real athletic and struggles to get off blocks in the run game. I don't see him being able to cover any RB's one on one in the pass game either. 2nd to 3rd rounder to me.